


soften your bite

by brunchclub



Series: Lunch Club Academy [one messed up family] [1]
Category: Lunch Club, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, Fluff, Ghost Travis, Light Angst, Number Four | Cooper Schulz, Number Six | Travis, Possibly OOC, Prequel, Umbrella Academy - Freeform, Umbrella Academy AU, basically argument and scene setting, buddies being buddies but also brothers so they fight, foreshadowing for another scene, no pseudo incest here, really no prior knowledge needed of the show, teen for swearing, umbrella academy but with changes obvi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25651831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brunchclub/pseuds/brunchclub
Summary: “Are you kidding me? And it is so my business; they’re my brothers too!”“Well; you’re fucking dead. So nunya’.”—Travis is tired of Cooper running from their family. Cooper is tired of Travis being tired of Cooper running from their family. They hit a snag.
Relationships: Cooper Schulz & Travis | Traves, none. i will feed you to the birds.
Series: Lunch Club Academy [one messed up family] [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859749
Comments: 8
Kudos: 68





	soften your bite

**Author's Note:**

> this is going to be the first in probably a series of TUA/LC related drabbles, before or after I get into the main plot of it! this is my first fic, so I’d appreciate it if I got some interaction !!! :D

“Cooper!”

Cooper tossed his hair out of his eyes with a quick shake of his head, as he continued to ignore the voice that had been relentlessly trying to get his attention for the past fifteen minutes.

“You can’t ignore me forever! ‘M gonna be your shadow! ‘M gonna haunt you like a ghost—“ the tirade paused for a moment, and quieted as the source was left behind in the wake of Cooper’s skateboard. He couldn’t help but grin — albeit wryly — at the confused muttering that was quickly losing volume. 

“—well, I  _ am _ a ghost, so I’m gonna’ be even better at it! It’s like my ghost job or something.”

“You don’t have a job, Trav’, never did, and certainly won’t have one now.” The seance only acknowledged the ghost’s presence with a correction, blocking out any further protest as he skated towards the pipe. He ground the pipe, before he lost his balance halfway through and toppled to the ground.

Cooper groaned as he opened his eyes to a face barely a few inches above his own. It didn’t really do much to block the sun out of his eyes, as it was semi-transparent.

“ ..  _ does being a superhero count as a job?” _ Was the initial, quiet response, before Travis continued with both more passion and volume.

“Well, you know what? ‘M sick and tired of you running away! I want to see them!’ Travis huffed, sitting back on his haunches. The ghost was glaring at him under the cover of his drawn-up hoodie and the curly hair that poked from under it. 

“I’m not  _ running away,  _ Travis, I’m just,” He struggled for a way to say ‘running away’ in a way that would lead him to an exit for the ‘conversation’ he was frankly quite tired of. He ended up sitting up, waving his brother out of his space with an irritated, narrowed eyes. “taking a breather from that whole mess. It’s not your business, anyway! Buzz off, man.”

“Taking a breather?!” The other shrieked, voice pitching higher with incredulity. “Are you kidding me? And it is  _ so _ my business; they’re my brothers too!”

“Well; you’re fucking dead. So nunya’.” Cooper snapped, pushing himself off the ground. He brushed off the asphalt and grit that stuck to his hands, flipping his board so the wheels touched the ground again. Feeling a little childish in doing so didn’t stop him from sticking out his tongue at the ghost, petulant. He planted his feet on the board before picking up speed, ignoring the little squeak of outrage. Speeding up hadn’t gotten Travis to lay off as Cooper had hoped; apparently, one of the  _ several _ benefits to being dead was not getting out of breath. And possibly teleportation, maybe levitation, since his pseudo-brother was still keeping pace with him.

“Please, Coopie? It’s been so long since we’ve seen ‘em. I know it doesn’t always end well, but—“

“—doesn’t always end well? It never fucking ends well! Charlie’s been gone longer than you have—“ he swallowed down some unknown emotion in his throat, before continuing. “—nobody even believes that I can see you, no one knows where Schlatt went, but he’s probably with the mafia or something, I dunno’, and Ted’s on the fucking  _ moon, _ Travis. You think they have service up there? So it’s gonna’ be me, you, Noah, that knife wielding maniac, and Schlatt, if someone could track him down! And nobody can even see you, anyway!” Cooper finished, nearly breathless with the rising intensity of his rant.

“And Carson.” Travis added quietly.

“And. Mother. Fucking. Carson. What a group, huh?” He chuckled bitterly, taking special care to punt a rock into the gutter as he coasted.

“Well—“

“No, Travis, no ‘well’! How about you stop fucking pushing it, and leave me, the fuck,  _ alone!”  _

Cooper skidded to an abrupt stop, turning to find the source of his fury. His heart slowed to a near stop when even as he turned in a full circle, he could not spot his brother. His hand twitched, nervous.

“Trav?” He whispered. His heart was no longer beating slowly, but instead pounding at his chest and leaping into his throat, as he tried to swallow against his sudden nerves. “Trav? Traves! Travis?!” He tried again. Some kind of strange hoarseness wouldn’t leave his voice even as he gained volume, tongue dry and heavy against the bottom of his mouth. 

“Come on, where’d you go?” The seance’s gaze skipped over the parking lot, circling the small area where he’d come to a stop. Slowly, he lifted his gaze to his surroundings, hoping that he’d find a familiar hoodie or head of curly hair. An old, heavy memory tugged insistently at the back of his brain. 

—

_ “And that, Trav, is how you banish a ghost.” Cooper finished, closing the library book on the excerpt. _

_ “You wouldn’t do that to me, right?” Travis piped up, voice muffled from his head’s position tucked into his arms, which rested on his drawn-up knees. _

_ “I don’t even think I could.” Cooper grinned easily, kicking back in the wooden desk chair. His gaze drifted to the darkness beginning to settle over the city’s horizon, visible through one of the large windows of the library. The night was coming, and with it, a certain heavy drowsiness that never failed to make him stretch and yawn. _

“Butyouwouldn’tifyoucould.”

“Huh?”  _ Cooper glanced over to his brother at the jumble of words, cocking a brow. _

_ “I said,” he began again, enunciating, shy still. “You wouldn’t if you could. Banish me. You wouldn’t. Right?” _

_ “Course not, Trav. Best buddy. My ghost pal.  _ The  _ lil’ gamer. Mi amigo. Mein bruder.” Something in Cooper softened a little bit, like some kind of heart-butter as he watched a small smile cross the ghost’s face. _

_ “Okay.” Travis modded, apparently satisfied with his answer. “Thank you.” _

_ “Sure.” _

—

Cooper cleared his throat, pushing against the unbidden memory. 

If he’d accidentally banished his brother, after promising not to, he wasn’t sure he could live with himself. He wasn’t even sure it was within his powers to do. It would make things a lot easier. 

But not with Travis. Never with Travis.

He stepped onto his board, beginning slow, expanding circles that rapidly became larger and faster, eventually spreading to the mouth of a nearby alley. His attention was snagged by a soft cooing echoing from the tight space, a sound that usually didn’t belong in the parts of the city he frequented.

Cautiously, he wedged himself into the space, taking care not to scuff up his already ripped hoodie. 

A whimper that sounded in the dark space, followed by a shush encouraged him to pick up his pace.

“Travis?” Cooper called, pressing himself against the dingy wall. “That you?”

“Look, Coopie!” His relief was heavy, though only audible through a deep exhale through his nose. Only one person called him that. “Look!”

Golden fur poked out from where Travis was kneeling, hands outstretched, and partially in the wall.

“Look at the puppy!” He cooed.

Cooper flinched back only slightly as the only minorly rabid dog snarled and snapped at his feet.

“Sure. Cute dog, man.”

“Right?” He asked, excited. “But it’s stuck! We gotta get it out of here.” Already, he’d turned pleading eyes to his brother, gesturing towards the small dog.

“That thing is gonna give me rabies, Trav.”

“A small price to pay for a good deed?” He offered, smiling sweetly.

Cooper stared back for a moment, before breaking under the pressure. He sighed.

“Alright, but if it bites me, I’m punting it.” He ignored the small cry of ‘nooooooo!’ from Travis, shuffling forward with a wince and attempting to curl his hands underneath the small dog. It huffed and snarled, but made no move to bite, which Cooper was content with. No biting meant no punting, and no emotional Travis to deal with.

As he scooted out of the alley, he recalled how they had gotten into the situation in the first place.

“Hey; did you, uh, hear what I said to you earlier?” Cooper questioned gingerly.

“Huh? Nar, whatchu say?” Travis looked up from where he’d been booping the dog’s nose; as well as one could when they were incorporeal.

“Nothing important!” He assured his brother, though hastily. “Just, that,” the seance hesitated, unsure of his sudden decision. “maybe we can see them sometime soon. You’re probably right; someone needs to check on them, make sure they’re not doing anything nefarious.

Travis absolutely  _ beamed. _

“Really?”

“Sure.”

Cooper let the dog down onto the ground. It scampered away, but not without an aggressive bark first.

“Lil’ piece of shit.”

“Noooo!” 

Cooper grinned as he picked up his board, accelerating more slowly this time. Maybe it would be nice to see familiar faces now and again, ones that weren’t crackheads that he knew from skating by. No way was he going back to that house though. Over his dad’s dead body.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed! Again, this was my first fic, so I hope it wasn’t too OOC! Comments or constructive criticism would be really nice and probably make my day :D
> 
> have a nice day!!


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